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I’m sitting here in Canada, a vast country with an ever-debated culture. Part of that debate is our collective, enduring love of hockey, one that sometimes puzzles me. It’s not unheard of to read sentiments like “Hockey, what is wrong with you?” or “Hockey, I’m through with you” in major Canadian publications in recent years. There are also subsets that are rather grim about its future. Lawrence Martin of the Globe and Mailwrites: “In the context of its celebrated history, our national sport is clearly past its prime, clearly on the decline … Hockey’s heyday was the Cold War era, 1950 to 1990. It was then that … hockey became an identity sport, occupying a role in society much grander than that of a game.”

Ah, identity. So this is why hockey, and sports in general, endure even in the face of the above takes, rising ticket prices, alleged growing disinterest, anddeclining enrollment. This is also presumably why hockey is inextricably linked to the cultures of manyother countries, a handful of whom produce some of the jazziest players in the world. Regardless of place, hockey is a marker of personal and community identity. It’s not just “Canada’s game”; it’s a massive, global, community fan experience. Paul Greenberg gets it right: “Sports doesn’t need to create advocates — the type of customer that most companies can only wish they had. Sports has them by the millions. They’re called fans.”

Customer support is currently standing at a crossroads: One road leads to exciting automated technologies, and the other to the ‘human touch’. Recent technological advancements are many, ranging from Artificial Intelligence (AI) (and related automated tools like virtual assistants, chatbots, etc.) to real-time messaging, simulation, self-service and crypto-currency. These technological breakthroughs point toward a future with remarkable changes in the customer service landscape. Despite these advancements, the human element still rules as the best way to deliver efficient customer support. Human agents make informed judgments and offer personability, both highly desired traits in the CS ecology. In fact, the success of new support technologies is ultimately based on how efficiently they are able to assist humans working on the front lines.

He-Man had the right idea when he held aloft his sword and transformed into his mightiest self. “I HAVE THE POWER!” he proclaimed with animated gusto. Although the cartoon is pushing 35 years old, it’s still an inspiring sight to see (and message to hear). While we’re not all Eternia-born superheroes like him, per se, as mere mortals we can still aim to be the masters of our own universes (contact center universes, if we’re being specific here) and harness the unshakable power to satisfy our customers.

Sparking powerful connections with customers and establishing their ongoing business isn’t rocket science: It’s a matter of having the most dynamic tools in place in your contact center. These tools ensure that customers make meaningful contact with agents whose powers are knowledge, experience, and empathy. This in turn will generate more positive aftereffects than you might initially think.

You know when you’re listening to a podcast interview and the guest says something and you literally smack your head, pause the podcast, and start tweeting? Happened to me last week.

Andrew Yang, founder of “Venture for America” (and a long-shot candidate for president in 2020) said “Google recently demonstrated software that can do the job of an average call center worker … that’s going to result in hundreds of thousands of jobs lost”.

Now, I grant some leniency for people outside our industry not getting some details right. But this thought is so wrong — and, sadly, growing in popularity — that it really needs correcting.

Last week, Facebook announced that WhatsApp could now be used as a customer service platform. We now have an interesting race between Apple’s “Apple Business Chat”, Facebook’s own “Messenger for Business”, and Twitter. The goal is to grab a vital piece of the eCommerce landscape: The channel for customer service communication.

What caught my eye is that WhatsApp is asking companies to pay in order to use its platform for customer service. Twitter quietly made this move a few months ago, too. What does it mean? Are these fee structures really there to earn revenue or to incent certain behavior? Will Apple follow suit?

In case you’ve been living on an island in Tahiti, with no communication to the outside world, you may not know how important mobile apps have become. In that case, let’s recap. Mobile apps are software applications designed to run on smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices. They dominate the time spent on mobile devices by 74% compared to mobile time spent on the web. Additionally, 75% of US adults will use a smartphone in 2017, while Millennials become more willing to make purchases within apps, (nearly 50% of them are making five or more in-app purchases annually). Today, most consumers are multi-channel users, meaning they channel hop from desktop, mobile, and phone, throughout a transaction; this makes mobile support increasingly important.

A mobile application is essential for a multitude of reasons, namely to support customer service and enhance the experience. Importantly, mobile apps can put out fires that could otherwise cost you big time. Here are 4 ways your mobile app helps to prevent customer service disasters:

There are over 2 billion smartphones in use right now. And in developed countries, penetration is approaching 100%. Mobile phones have changed consumer behaviour more than any technology in recent memory, perhaps since the invention of the car.

This change has profound implications for the interactions between companies and their customers. According to a recent study, 77% of those ages 18 to 24 use mobile devices at least once per month for customer support.

Many companies are struggling with how to correctly adapt their customer services playbook. Too often, this playbook changes at a pace too slow to keep up with the shift in consumer behaviour we’re seeing today. Getting mobile customer service right is an enormous topic, but let’s take a bird’s eye to break it down into more manageable pieces. Continue reading →

If you’re involved in the customer service industry, by now you’ve heard a ton about Amazon’s amazing new Mayday service. You have probably heard about the similar “SOS” service now offered by Salesforce. You may have also experienced some of the mobile apps that have true integration with the call center (like USAA, GroupAMA, or this credit union.)

When you saw those examples, you may have thought to yourself, “Our customers aren’t asking for that, so we’ll take a look at it next year.” Or you may have thought, “That’s fine for bleeding edge companies like Amazon, but my company doesn’t have those kind of resources.”

You may have already recognized the increasing need for customer service to go mobile – and if you haven’t, where have you been? Although mobile customer service is relatively new, it’s still worth thinking about. How can you better accommodate customers who may be using your services on the go?

By adjusting your customer service approach to incorporate at least some kind of mobile element, you’ll be appeasing a greater variety of customers (who will thank you for it), and will be less likely to be left behind when mobile retail really takes off.

If you’re not convinced, these three reasons may just change your mind…

As we recover from Black Friday and gear up for the holidays, retailers are left thinking about the shopping experience and its impact on sales. For shoppers, the experience is all too familiar: hoards of people flocking to malls, packed parking lots, and inevitably long checkout lines. But the shopping experience today doesn’t have to be so frantic. Consumers have the buying power to streamline this process – and possibly eliminate it altogether – and it sits in the palm of their hands. Continue reading →